Radio 2 in the Park 2026 to move from announced August dates

The three-day Radio 2 in the Park event in Stirling is moving from August to September.

Since announcing the festival was coming to Scotland earlier in the year we have been engaging with local festival organisers and stakeholders. We are particularly grateful to the Scottish Independent Festival Association for their constructive feedback.

We have taken the decision to move Radio 2 in the Park having listened to concerns about the impact of staging it in August, when other music festivals are taking place in the locality.

The BBC is committed to supporting the independent festivals sector and being part of a fantastic summer of live music in Scotland.

Helen Thomas, Head of Radio 2 said: “Our aim has always been to bring a brilliant event to Stirling, providing value for Scottish audiences and making a positive impact on the local community, just as we have done in Leicester, Preston and Chelmsford in previous years. We’ve worked closely with the Scottish Independent Festival Association to find a solution that supports a brilliant summer of music across Scotland.

“Whilst tickets are yet to go on sale, we appreciate this may affect the plans of some people who were ready to join us in August, and we are sorry if this is the case. It is why we wanted to confirm the change as soon as we could.

“We’re excited to be bringing the very best of Radio 2 to Stirling and we’ll have announcements on the amazing artists who’ll be joining us very soon.”

A Stirling Council spokesperson said: "We are delighted that BBC Radio 2 in the Park is coming to Scotland for the first time to City Park Stirling, which has a proven track record of successfully hosting large-scale events. We can’t wait to welcome fans and artists to our amazing city for an unforgettable celebration of world-class live music."

A SIFA spokesperson said: Scotland is a wonderful place to host events of every scale, and the Scottish independent festival sector is a much-loved part of the cultural and economic life of communities right across the country.

“We're grateful to the BBC for the thoughtful way they've engaged to consider the right timing and structure for this event, and we look forward to working with the BBC, EventScotland, VisitScotland, Stirling Council and other partners to make the weekend a great success and to keep Scotland's whole festival landscape thriving.”

New dates for the festival will be announced as soon as possible, followed by a line-up of brilliant performers and ticket information.

Radio 2 in the Park will be available for all audiences to watch and listen to across the weekend on BBC television, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sound, as well as on Radio 2.

Radio 2 is the UK’s most listened to single radio station, with a weekly audience of 12.7m (RAJAR Q4 2025). The station is home to the UK’s most listened to weekday Breakfast show, with 6.5m listeners each week. Vernon Kay continues to be the most listened to show on UK radio, growing to 6.7m listeners each week in the latest RAJARs (Q4 2025).

Nearly 1 in 4 adults listening to the radio are tuned to Radio 2, and its listeners tune in for over 11 hours each week – the highest figure for four years (RAJARs Q4 2025).

Radio 2, aimed at everyone over the age of 35, presents an unrivalled music mix, featuring a very wide variety of music genres, including pop, rock, country, folk, jazz, blues, soul and hip hop and more. The station is proud to play over 15,000 different songs in daytime each year.

The network’s presenters include Richie Anderson, Zoe Ball, Michael Ball, Tony Blackburn, OJ Borg, Revd. Kate Bottley, Fearne Cotton, Sara Cox, Jamie Cullum, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Gary Davies, Paul Gambaccini, Mark Goodier, Angela Griffin, Bob Harris, Vernon Kay, Shaun Keaveny, Cerys Matthews, Paddy McGuinness, Jason Mohammad, Trevor Nelson, Dermot O’Leary, Elaine Paige, Mark Radcliffe, Romesh Ranganathan, Rylan, DJ Spoony, Jeremy Vine, Michelle Visage, Jo Whiley, Emma Willis and Owain Wyn Evans.

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